It's In My Blood
by Haylie Jenee
Summary: Jayden is the newest Disciplinary Committee member, but she has enough to worry about on her own. This story is crazy y'all. Talk of psychics and stuff. It's the cat's pajamas. :D T for language. (hasn't been updated for a while, but NOT ABANDONED)
1. Chapter 1: Conspiracy Theorist

It was long past dark when I arrived at the Academy. The moon was only in it's first quarter, so it wasn't bright enough to be comfortable.

I looked around warily as I stopped under the large arch leading to the grounds. Where was Aura? She was supposed to be here before me...

Going forward a few paces more, I stepped into a puddle, which was just deep enough to slosh some water in my shoe. Withdrawing my foot and shaking it a couple times, I stared at the water until it settled and looked at my reflection gazing back at me. My naturally red hair looked drained of it's vibrant colour in the moonlight, and my gray eyes kept fluttering in the direction of any small sounds, whether they were caused by animals or sounds from the school.

I looked away from my reflection to the uniform that rested in my hands. I hadn't had the time to see what it looked like, but it was mostly black. It wasn't in my duffel bag with my other stuff, I would need to have it on before I met the Headmaster.

"Jayden?"

The voice seemed ear-piercing in the dead silence, and when I spun around reflexively to see who was there, I recognize who it was instantly.

"God, Aura! You scared the crap outta me!" I complained.

"Sorry! And sorry I'm late. I couldn't get the teacher to let me out of class!"

"Class? But it's almost midnight!" It was then that I noticed she was wearing the supposed Night Class uniform, which was white, except for some black trim. "Oh, you're in the Night Class?"

"Uh, sort of."

"Huh?"

"Don't worry, Headmaster Cross will explain."

"Oh, okay...?"

Aura led my to a bathroom where I could change into my uniform, which was the exact opposite colours as Aura's, black with white trim. I also was wearing thin, black, thigh-high socks and dark brown, mid-shin lengthed boots.

When I was sporting my uniform, we headed to the Headmaster's office. I have to admit, I was a little nervous. If being in this Disciplinary Committee meant I had to talk to the Headmaster all the time, it was probably a pretty big deal.

The doors to his office were very large, a little too big... Was everything here going to be intimidating?

Aura knocked on the door. "Headmaster? Are you there?"

"Yes, yes, come in." A voice answered her.

She opened the door slowly, and the light from inside illuminated the hall.

"Aura, how many times do I have to tell you that you don't need to knock?" the voice said when Aura walked in.

"Sorry, it just seems rude not to." She motioned for me to come in. I took a self-assuring breath, and stepped in.

The first thing I noticed was that it was actually really warm inside. Not just the temperature, but the light, and atmosphere. The room was quite large, and the walls and floor were wood. There was an intricate rug covering some of the floor, and a desk was on the far-ish end of it. That was were the Headmaster was sitting. I could tell he was tall, even sitting down. He had long blonde hair which he pulled back into a pony tail, and a pair of thin, wiry glasses rested on his nose. As for his attire, it looked like he grabbed whatever the most comfortable clothes in his closet were and piled them all on.

When his eyes rested on me, the brightened more than they already had been. He seemed like the over-enthusiastic type, but I wasn't one to judge.

"Oh! You must be the girl just admitted! Jayden, am I right, I'm right, right?" He enthused. Definitely over-enthusiastic.

"Yes'sir." I nodded.

"Well we have much to go over, yes, much indeed. Aura asked me if you could be put into the Disciplinary Committee, giving me enough good reasons to agree. You are aware of this, yes?"

"Yes'sir." I said again.

"And you know nothing of what that entitles, correct?"

I simply nodded my head.

"Good. Aura wasn't supposed to say anything. So, as a member, you are to go straight to the entrance of the Moon Dorm, where the Night Class comes out at twilight to go to class. The Day Class girls may or may not be there already, hopefully you'll usually beat them. It is up to you to keep the girls off the Night Class as they pass. And don't underestimate them. They would shove you off a cliff to get to those boys." He laughed at my expression, which was something of a mix of terror and confusion. "Don't worry, you won't be any cliffs. The other part of your responsibilities is to patrol the campus after the Night Class is in session. Chances are, there will be a few Day Class girls sneaking around to get some pictures of the Night Class. If you see any, get their names and class numbers. Be sure to tell me when you do!"

He rummaged through his desk for a minute. "Ah! Here you are!" He handed me a white band of cloth with a gorgeous red symbol on it. "It's proof of being on the Committee. Have it on whenever you aren't in class."

I pulled the band onto my right arm to make sure it'd stay.

"Oh, and Jayden," The Headmaster continued. I looked up. "I forgot to tell you something very important."

"Yes?"

"The reason it's so crucial to keep those girls away from the Night Class is because the Night Class is all vampires." I froze, but he continued speaking. "How silly of me. I should've told you that first."

"Wait," I said, "Vampires? Like Aura?" I pointed my thumb at her, standing behind me.

He nodded. "She told me that she'd told you. Except she's a-"

"Pureblood? She told me that too. The whole bit."

The Headmaster smiled. "Good. Saves me a speech. She's in the Night Class on Mondays, and lives in the Moon Dorm. Which means she won't be there to help on Mondays. It's a bit precarious sometimes... But we need a Pureblood there to keep the others under control. We keep her in the Day Class so she can be on the Committee. As I said, precarious, but she makes it work. Does a darn good job too, considering she only started this routine this year." He smiled at Aura proudly, who looked down, embarrassed.

"What about the whole... sensitive-to-the-sun thing?" I wondered.

"Oh, she has a kind of immunity to it." When I raised an eyebrow, he added, "Don't ask me, that's just what she said.

I decided to drop it. It probably wasn't more than that anyway. "Um, I have one more question..." I trailed off. "It's not very important though..."

"Yes?"

"Um, I was just wondering... Is it just me and Aura, or is there anyone else on the Committee?"

Aura jumped in. "Well, there's Zero, but he doesn't do shit."

The acid in her voice made _me_ flinch.

"Ahem..." Headmaster Cross put in, "My adopted daughter Yuuki used to be in the Committee, but she... doesn't go to this school anymore." He coughed awkwardly.

"Um... What are you guys-"

Aura interrupted me. "C'mon Jayden, I'll show you to your dorm." She grabbed my wrist and started towing me away.

"Both of you get some sleep! Tomorrow will be a big day!" The Headmaster called after us.

When we turned the first corner and started downstairs, I spoke. "Aura, what are you guys hiding from me?"

"Nothing really. It's just some weird shit that went down last year." Her voice was a bit strained.

"I can tell you're lying. I can also tell you're pissed, you never cuss this much. What's wrong?"

She dropped my arm, allowing me to follow instead of being dragged. "Nothing. I just don't really like Zero all that much."

I rolled my eyes. "_That _much I can tell. I wish I could help, but I've never met him."

"Can I just complain a bit?"

"Sure."

She sighed. "Well first, he's an unfeeling jerk. No emotions but anger, I swear it. Second, he's supposed to be on the Disciplinary Committee with me, but he doesn't do anything!" She threw he hands up, exasperated. "I don't even know where he goes, so I can't pester him to help. _And _he hates me just because I'm a vampire. I caught him yelling at the Headmaster about me! Saying it was ridiculous to have a Pureblood keeping the girls away from the vampires, that I would expose everything. For the longest time, he would just watch me during the switch over. When he gave up on _that, _he decided to disappear. I never see him except in class, and during Committee meetings. Even then, he only shows up half the time."

When I decided she'd stop talking long enough for me to know she was done, I sighed. "You know what I wanna say, but I don't want to upset you."

She nodded. "You want to say that there's probably a reason for it all. The problem is, there _is_ a reason, I even know what it is! But that doesn't help a goddamned thing."

"I'm sorry Aura..."

She sighed. "S'all right I guess. Now at least I won't be doing everything myself. Before, I used to have to do switch-overs on Mondays too. Used to have to sneak to class after all the girls left. Then there was no one to patrol. This will be a much better situation."

I smiled. "Good. I'm glad to help."

We stopped in front of a door on the second level of the girls' dorm. It was only three doors away from the staircase.

"Here we are!" Aura handed me a key. "Your key. This'll be your dorm for the whole year. I managed to get you your own."

"Aw thanks Aura! Ya know, this is kind of exciting."

She pushed me towards the door, grinning. "Don't get too excited, or you won't sleep."

I unlocked the door and pushed it open. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow in class?"

"Yup. Bright and early." She grimaced.

"Can't wait!" I laughed, and closed the door behind me.

As I got ready for bed, my mind was spinning. What was it that Aura and the Headmaster were keeping from me? And I couldn't help but think it was tied to the whole thing Aura was explaining to me about that Zero guy, considering she didn't tell me what she knew the reason was for his reclusive behavior. If I was going to be such a big part of keeping the school safe, I feel like I should know as much as I can.

When I climbed into bed, a new thought popped into my head. If Aura had only just been doing the whole Pureblood-by-night-normal-teen-by-day thing just this year, that meant there had to have been another Pureblood here last year, right? I didn't know if I was reading way too far into this, but if the Headmaster's adopted daughter had just left last year, and this other Pureblood did too... No, the events could've been way too random. They couldn't be connected...

But they kept so much information from about both of them; they didn't even mention this other Pureblood...

The thoughts kept whirling through my head until I was too exhausted to think anymore.

I've always been somewhat of a conspiracy theorist.

Yes! Chapter UNO! Tell me about typos if you catch em... I'm kinda bad about that. And thanks for reading, PLEASE review, I hate not knowing if there are readers or not. Even just add it to your watch list or something, I dunno but let me know you're reading it! Grazie!

Update: 2-22-2012  
>Okay, I got sick of using the same name over and over. Haylie is now Jayden. Thanks for reading!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2: Ohhh so that's who you meant

Even though I'd gone to sleep early, I woke up exhausted. I'd tossed all night, never really completely falling into unconsciousness. I was not rested, and I knew it would affect me later.

I sat up and checked the clock. Breakfast would just be starting, but I wasn't really hungry, so I got dressed and started on the tangled mess that was my hair. I brushed slowly, and even when there were virtually no tangles, I continued running the bristles through long after my hair was smooth.

Eventually, I did put the brush down, but I just stared out the window. I didn't have a bad feeling about the school, but I could tell something was off. Aside from the vampire Night Class.

When I checked the clock again, it was time to go. I just followed what everyone else was doing, realizing I knew nothing about _regular _school stuff. Maybe it was because the wasn't anything normal about this school.

The whole of the Day Class migrated to the school building, and I stayed in the back of the group. Good thing I did too, because it put me in the position to seen Aura as she left from the Moon Dorm. It was then I realized how out of place she looked. This weird routine she was pushed into probably felt like hell to her. She probably felt like she didn't fit in anywhere.

"Aura!" I called.

She smiled when she found me in the crowd and switched her path to one where we would walk side by side.

"Sooo...'' I said awkwardly, "Do you know where I'm going?"

She laughed. "Yeah, you're in class with me."

I sighed. "It must be nice to be the Headmaster's best friend."

"Well I'm glad you think that, because now that you're on the Committee, you'll be one of his favorite people too."

"Hell yes."

"So Sharon, if there is no such thing as evolution, then how do you explain..." the teacher criticized one of the students patronizingly.

Honestly, I wasn't really paying attention. I was half asleep slumped over my nonexistent notes. At least I wasn't the only one. I was fully aware of Aura fast asleep in the row in front of me. Well, not fully...

"Porter!" The teacher called on her for an answer to an unheard question. She was too far gone to wake up.

"Um, Professor, she's asleep." Some student next to her answered instead.

"Okay then, Afya!"

I slowly lifted my head at the sound of my last name. I realized he was waiting for an answer from me. "Oh, um..." I lifted my head higher that time, panicked. "I'm sorry, what was the question?"

The professor sighed. "Nevermind. I'll let you off this time, but next time you fall asleep in class, you'll get supplementary classes."

"Yes'sir." I was pretty sure I could stay awake in classes... most of the time.

"But Porter," He emphasized. She still didn't wake up. "Someone wake her!" He ordered. The girl next to Aura shook her. She blinked her eyes open sleepily, then looked around confused. "Porter!" The professor called her name for the last time. "Supplementary classes for you today!"

"Ohhhhh... Uh, I... can't?" She replied awkwardly.

The professor's face turned slightly red. "What?"

"Umm..." She got up and went to the front of the class to talk to him. I'm sure no one could hear them, but I wished I was in the front row so I could at least try to.

"Hmmm..." He said when she finished talking. "Alright. But next time you fall asleep in class," He implied.

"Yes'sir." She hurried back up to her seat, which was right in front of mine, albeit a few steps lower as well.

"Aura, wha-" I began.

"I told him about it being your first day, and that you're a Committee member, that I need to be there to show you what to do." She answered my unspoken question.

The professor finished his lecture and everyone began packing up. I moved down to an empty seat by Aura. "So, when we get dismissed...?"

"Just follow me. We'll head to the Moon Dorm, and if there's already girls there, we push them back from the gate and keep them away. If they aren't there yet, we do the same."

As if waiting for Aura to give me the run down, the final bell rang, and there were girls sprinting out the door. Aura and I got up and headed for the Moon Dorm.

We ended up at a huge, complex gate, and I sucked in a nervous breath. It was bigger than I had imagined. I let that breath out, feeling more confident. Aura immediately ran up toward the front of the group gathered around the walkway off to the left of where we stood, and I went to the right. We started moving people back, though they tried to take advantage of me because I was new. It didn't work.

"Stay back!" "Stop pushing!" Aura and I yelled at the love-struck girls trying to get closer to the gate. They almost pushed me back too far, but once I got my footing I was half-invincible.

I heard the gate shudder open, and was momentarily distracted, but so were the girls. When the open gate revealed the Night Class, my mouth popped open. Everyone in the Night Class was absolutely beautiful. I had to quickly regained my composure, the girls were squealing and getting pushy again. I planted my feet more firmly on the ground and got a good stance as I tried to keep them back.

One of the Night Class seemed especially popular and outgoing. He was loudly saying hello and greeting the girls, but to me, he was just encouraging them to trample me. From the sound of the girls squealing his name, it sounded like his name was Aido, or Idol. I couldn't tell.

For a few seconds, I had to shove the girls back with all my strength because of the loud one. When they got further away, I was able to relax a bit.

I noticed that a lot of the Night Class was looking at me, probably wondering about the new girl that was the Pureblood vampire's bestest friend. I wondered nonchalantly if I lived up to their expectations.

Suddenly, all my muscles locked up. I started to feel like I was walking in to a cloud of some kind of impairing gas, except it was walking towards me...

"Zero?" Aura huffed. "What the hell are you doing here?"

I cranked my head around confused, and one boy caught my eye, I assumed the one Aura was yelling at.

"Considering I'm supposed to be here for the same reason as you, that's a bit of a pointless question." He rolled his eyes. The acid in his voice was almost tangible.

I didn't see or hear anything else. I started swaying in the middle of his sentence, and everything got all blurry. I heard Aura call my name worriedly, but I was already falling over and was unconscious before I hit the floor.

* * *

><p>Oooooo dramatic. Review? And thanks for reading! Inform me of any typos, if you see em, and sorry if Zero's only line seemed weak. I have a hard time writing his lines because I just love him so much and don't want to make him sound weird. :3<p> 


	3. Chapter 3: Viva La Revelations

Flashback

"Mommy! Mommy!" I came running out of my room. "Mommy, I'm comfuzed! I j'st saw somting, but not wid mah eyes!" I screamed at her.

This was 12 years ago, when I was only 4 years old.

She sighed. "I guess I should tell you then."

"I'm scurred Mommy!" I'd whimpered.

"It's alright. I'm about to tell you something important, so you need to listen carefully, okay?"

I'd nodded silently.

"All the females in my family, dating back to further than anyone can tell, have been psychic."

"Wut does syyyyyy-kick mean?" I asked.

She took a moment to decipher my little kid talk. "Psychic means you can see the future. What has not happened yet." When I didn't answer, she went on. "Your great grandma was too. And your grandma, and even me."

"Mommy is sss-sy...kick?"

"Yes. But that's not it. With these powers, we aren't sure why, but... Honey, do you understand what love is?"

I'd nodded. "I know I lub Mommy, and Daddy, 'nd big broder!" I'd enthused.

She shook her head. "That's different. I'll just tell you now, and when you are older, you will understand, so don't ask questions, ok?"

"Yah!"

"Being psychic, we have what are known as soul mates. For some reason, they've been labelled our zeros, or our negative."

I just had to ask, but not what she was expecting. "How do we know when we met dem?"

"Oh. Well... We faint, or pass out, the first time we see them. There will be a few seconds of time before you do though, so the mind can understand."

I'd thought for a second. "Did Mommy paz out when she saw Daddy?"

She'd laughed, seeming thrilled I understood what she was saying. "Yes honey. Now, tell me, what did you see?"

I didn't answer her question directly. "Mommy, does dis mean big broder is gonna be shot?"

End Flashback

_That last second before I passed out. Him... His slightly ruffled silver hair. His face. Those piercing purple eyes... Angry. Bitter. But hidden... he seemed... worn out... What's bothering you? Why do you look so tired? It's like you try so hard... Like it's a day to day process... Why? Why can't you just live, forget anything bad that's happened? I want you to be happy... I want to know what you'd look like if you relaxed... if you smiled at me... But you don't know me, do you? It seems like I've known you forever, yet I know nothing about you... All I really know is what you look like... And your name... Zero..._

_Zero..._

_Zero... _

"Hey, I think she's waking up!"

"Jayden? Jayden, wake up!"

I felt a hand on my forehead, and I struggled back to consciousness. I moved my head to the side a little, and tried to open my eyes.

"Jayden! Wake up!" I recognized Aura's voice calling.

My eyes fluttered open to a brightly lit white room. Almost like a hospital. I was in the infirmary.

"Hey! She's awake!" Aura sounded relieved. "What happened back there?"

"Calm down, she just woke up from being out cold for 3 hours!" This time the headmaster's voice came from near my feet.

I shook my head, trying to clear it. "No, I'm fine." I mumbled, trying to sit up.

Once I made it to lean against the headboard, I noticed it was just Aura and the headmaster there. No nurse.

"Good. So, what happened back there?" Aura repeated.

"I-I'm-... Not sure." I lied. _Zero..._

"Are you feeling alright?" The headmaster interrupted what Aura was about to say next.

"Yeah... I feel fine." That was a lie too. _Zero..._

His eyes lit up. "Then would you like some vegetable soup? I made it all by myself." He sniffed. "No one even wanted to help hand me the tomato." He held out a thermos at me. I took it tentatively.

Then I realized he was waiting for me to try it. I unscrewed the cap and thick steam puffed out of it. It didn't exactly smell good, but I thought it might taste better than it smelled. I took a tiny sip of it. No luck.

My eyes started watering because of all the extra onion he put in it. I swallowed hard and held back a shudder. The headmaster was still waiting for my review.

"Thanks." I said dryly. "It's good."

"Yay!" He enthralled then skipped out of the room.

When he left, I set down the thermos and looked at Aura. "Have you ever tasted his food?"

She looked at me sympathetically. "Yeah. Sorry. I tried to talk him out of it."

I didn't answer, but looked down. This was so confusing. I was alone in this. My grandma was dead, and my mom was dead. I had no one to confide in that knew what this felt like, so I would know if what happened just a few hours ago was honestly me seeing my negative. My negative...

_Zero..._

* * *

><p>Oh my god, you don't even KNOW how much I loved writing this chapter. SO FUN. Hope y'all liked it, sorry it's so short, but CHAPTER 4 is already in the works! Review, typos, stuff like that? I'll give you a virtually hug if you do. :)<p>

By the way, I got the idea for the chapter name from Viva La Revolution by The Adicts. :3


	4. Chapter 4: My Life Is Not Fair

I was kept in the imfirmary overnight, they probably wanted to make sure I wasn't going to pass out again. No one could figure out a reason for why I passed out (no surprise there), so when I was released to go to class, all they could do was tell me to come back if I started feeling funny. Aura was sent to walk with me, just in case I had another "fainting spell," as the nurse called it, and it was nice to take my mind off of what happened yesterday.

Too bad it only lasted until I walked into our classroom and saw that Zero was there.

"He probably decided to ditch yesterday." Aura told me when I asked.

_Good thing, I guess. Otherwise, I would've passed out right here in class. _I thought to myself, trying to look as nonchalant as I could.

I walked to my desk shakily and sat down, trying to keep my thoughts under control. It didn't work for very long, and all the thoughts I shouldn't have been thinking about were buzzing around in my head.

If I was being honest with myself, I wasn't thinking about how to talk to Zero, but more debating if I even _should_. The weirdest part of this whole thing was that I _knew_ that I was born to be perfect for this guy, and for him to be perfect for me, but I didn't know anything about him... at all! What really tripped me out was that I knew I was going to fall in love with him, no way around it. And I didn't know if I even wanted a way around it or not! God dammit I didn't know anything! Why couldn't I just look into the furture and see how I would talk to him. Easy, because I didn't know how to do that now. But if I do nothing and just let him get away, the rest of my life would be absolute hell...

I buried my head in my hands.

"Yo, Jades, you okay?" Aura asked me from her seat in front of me.

I looked up at her. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay..." She didn't look convinced. "I suggest you at least pretend to take notes today, just to save yourself from supplementary classes."

"Aight." I put on my best fake smile, knowing it wouldn't fool her. But she nodded at me, as if knowing I'd talk to her later.

I sighed. I couldn't keep this from her, but she was going to hate it! Obviously she did _not _like Zero. What was she going to do when I explained everything to her? She may be an awesome friend, but how well could she handle this? This could be considered betrayal, but I couldn't help it! It's not like I chose for my negavtive to be the person she hated most at this school.

I guess life never is really fair.

...

Somehow, I made it though the whole school day. I didn't retain any of the information I wrote on my paper. My hand wrote it, but I don't remember reading it.

As Aura and I headed to the Moon Dorm gate, she told me about how there were horseback riding days once a week, on Thursdays, which was tomorrow.

"Yeah we go out to the stables and stuff," Aura explained, "and spend part of the day doing that. Not all day, of course. And we go one class at a time, so it won't be super crowded."

"I love that!" I was practically bouncing. "Back at home, I had a ranch with 5 horse that I took care of, and I got to go riding practically everyday."

"Good, it sucks to be a newbie at it..." She sighed. I guessed that she was when she showed up here she probably wasn't exactly pro yet.

The switch-over went without a hitch, except for Aura starting up an arguement with Zero again, which made me completely uncomfortable. Was she really going to fight with him everytime she was within a twenty-foot radius of him? That wasn't exactly fair...

Aura stomped over to me when she was done yelling at Zero, probably to complain.

"Ugh! What the hell is wrong with him?" She asked me as if I had an answer.

"Uh..."

"I don't know what I did to make him hate me so much. And he wonders why I'm so short with him all the time!" She continued.

"Aura-"

"Everytime I see him I just want to punch him!" She growled. I flinched.

"Maybe you shouldn't start the arguements then..." I managed.

"What?"

"Well, I've just noticed that you always put in the first word..." Knowing saying this would probably upset her, I regretted saying it immediatley.

"You...You're taking his side?" She didn't sound angry anymore, just confused.

"No, no! I just..." I hesitated. "I'd just rather not hear you guys fight all the time..." My excuse was weak, sure, but at least I wasn't lying.

"Hm." Aura looked at me weird. "You're keeping something from me, aren't you?"

"Uh, I..." I couldn't lie to her, but I didn't know what to say. '_Oh yeah, well, it turns out that the guy you hate_ _the most is my soulmate. That's why I passed out. Don't freak out. It just runs in the family,_' wasn't really an option.

"You don't have to tell me now," She assured, "But you better not keep this from me forever."

"O-okay..."

...

The next day was a bit of a change. I met Aura in front of the school, like I usually did, and we went to class, just like any other day, but instead of sitting in the classroom, we all had to change into more suitable clothes and got to head out to the stables for horseback riding lessons after a few hours of class. I thought this would be nice, maybe give me a chance to forget about other stuff and ride like I used to back at home, before everything stopped making sense.

Aura led me over to the wooden fence where all horses had been brought out from the stables. I looked across the clearing to see all the different horses, but one horse caught my eye.

"Hey, Aura," I poked her arm, "What's that pretty white horse's name?"

"Ohh, that's White Lily." She grimaced. "I wouldn't recommend going for her. She's been nicknamed 'The Wild Horse.' No one can ride her without her freaking out on them."

"'Cept Zero." Some girl to Aura's right added.

Aura rolled her eyes. "'Yes. Except for Zero." She said reluctantly.

I looked back over at White Lily. I'd taken care of horses almost my whole life. I was almost positive I could get her to like me. After, she was just a horse, not some kind of monster. But, I wouldn't approach her now, not with everyone being loud, probably stressing her out.

Aura poked me. "Jayden. Don't you dare." She always knew what I was thinking.

I shrugged. "Whatever! I'll leave her be." Someone slid aside the wooden gate into the clearing that was way to Aura's right, letting the class inside the gate.

I didn't bug White Lily, like I told Aura. Instead I found a sweet dark brown horse with a lighter coloured head. Her name was Arlownay. She took to me nicely, I was able to walk right up and stroke her forehead.

At first, there wasn't much trouble. A teacher started explaining stuff, and people started riding. But of course, if there was going to be trouble, it would be caused by the new girl.

It had been about an hour since we'd left class, and I was riding around in a small round track with some of the more experienced riders... and Aura. Aura was taking it slow, she wasn't up for anything more than a light trot, and I wasn't completely sure she'd even done more than that, so I had gone ahead of her so I could go faster. I had just lapped her the 7th time, when (with my brain being as random and one-tracked as it can be), I realized that I hadn't see Zero anywhere. So I turned scanned the area until I found him, napping under a small yet shady tree.

After trying to tear my gaze away, and failing terribly, I allowed myself to stare for a couple seconds, wondering how it was he got away with doing nothing in class. I never saw him doing any work, and he never took notes. Since he was asleep most the time, there was no way he could understand what we did in class. And even now, he was under a tree, sleeping, while everyone else was riding horses. It didn't make to much sense to me, though it wasn't my business anyway.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice the horse gallop past me on my left and swerve in front of me until it had already happened. I barely had enough time to turn my head before Arlownay whinned panickedly and reared up on her hind legs, throwing me backwards onto the fence nearest to me, on the inside of the track. It broke under me, and I felt the grass after I felt the fence. The wind was knocked right out of my lungs the instant I hit the floor. Looking up, I realized I had startled the black horse that had been behind me, and all I could see were it's hooves coming back down to smash my legs.

I gasped and rolled backwards, barely avoiding the horse coming down on top of me and crushing my knees. It took off then, taking it's rider with it.

The ground was my safe haven for a minute, and that was where I stayed as I tried to find my lungs. I sat up and saw most the class trying to chase down runaway Arlownay, and the other rider trying to calm his horse down. Aura was running toward me.

She skidded to a stop next to me. "Jesus, Jayden, are you okay?"

I stared at the ground for a few seconds, then shook my head to get my brain working. "I think so..."

I could practically hear her roll her eyes. "Well is anything broken?"

"I don't... think so?" I decided to test it and stand up. It was a little slow, but I managed. "Yeah, I'm fine. My back hurts though." I winced when I prodded at my lower back. "Yeah, that hurts."

She nodded. "That's where you hit the fence. Do you want to go to the nurse?"

I sighed. "I probably should, huh? My back really is starting to hurt." _A lot_. I added to myself.

I looked around, and things were starting to calm down. Arlownay had been caught, and a student was taking her back to the stables. The black horse had stopped running too, but it was still panicked.

"We should probably go then." Aura said. "Can you walk?"

I shrugged and took a step. It hurt, but I could manage. I nodded at her.

"I'm going to go let the teacher know we're leaving. Go ahead and start for the imfirmary. I'll catch up." She jogged off.

I started to take a step, but it hurt more than the last one, and the next one hurt more. _This is pathetic... _I thought, trying to walk further. I trailed my hand across the fence to make sure I didn't fall, but it was no help. Eventually I gave up and sank to my knees.

"This is ridiculous..." I gasped.

Aura was headed back over to me, running again. "Haylie, I thought you said you could walk!" She fretted when she reached me. "Why did you lie? You're just gonna make it worse."

I glared up at her. "I didn't lie. It just didn't hurt so much at first..."

She started to reply, but something caught her eye behind me, and her expression darkened. I was about to ask what was up, but someone spoke before me.

"Need some help?" A voice behind me said.

I turned my head and saw Zero standing there.

A little shiver went up my spine (which hurt), and I looked back at Aura. She was obviously pissed, and had her arms crossed defiantly, but I could tell she wasn't going to say no when her best friend was kneeled on the floor, unable to walk.

She sighed and relaxed her arms. "Yeah. She hurt her back and can't walk, and there's no way I can carry her all the way to the nurse."

"Got it." Zero replied.

I was about to protest and say I wasn't _that _heavy, when then floor disappeared from under me.

Oh my God, this was not happening.

"Nooo no no no no, I'm okay! I can walk!" I objected, desperately trying to free myself.

"Knock it off, you're gonna make me drop you." Zero commented, irritated.

I crossed my arms and tried to maintain some dignity, which was a wasted effort, because I was blushing so obviously the whole time. Aura noticed too and was looking at me funny, so I tried to distract myself by thinking of anything other than this school. When that didn't work, I started wondering how many times I was planning on ending up in the infirmary in my first week here.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, but, in actuality, was probably only a few minutes, we arrived at the infimary. The nurse gave a look that told me she recognized me, the girl who passed out for no apparent reason, and asked what was wrong with me this time. The irony was that the reason I was here last time was the one who carried me here.

The nurse instructed Zero to set me down next to the cot in the corner of the room, and told him he could leave. He did, but Aura refused to, even though I said she could if she wanted to. She probably felt angry enough that she had to ask for Zero's help, and wanted to be helpful as much as she could.

I tried to be cooperative for the nurse, laying on my stomach while she poked and prodded my back and asked, "Did that hurt?" It wasn't my fault that I was distracted and didn't hear half the things she said until she poked my head and asked again. But after a half hour of that, she said my spine was really bruised, and my skin was a little torn up. She also said I'd need to stay here for at least the rest of the day. I'd sighed, and had to ask Aura to get any work that I'd miss for me. She agreed, and even took the time to run to the library and pick out a book for me to read. Even with that as a reasonble distraction, my mind was stuck on Zero. What else would I think about, of course?

What kept me wondering was why he even offered to help. I was probably the most insignificant thing in his life. Just some random nameless girl that transfered in to his school this year, managed to join the Disciplinary Committee, and happens to attract bad attention. First day I saw him I passed out, second day I caused mayhem during horseback riding lessons. That'd made me more of an annoyance than anything.

Suddenly realized something I hadn't thought of before. Aura had said she couldn't carry me to the imfirmary today, so she obviously couldn't have carried me when I'd passed out either. The only other person there with us was Zero. That meant he must've carried me to the imfirmary that time too!

I buried my head in my hands, trying to pretend I'd never even thought of that, trying to ignore how much more embarrassing that made today feel.

When the sky grew dark, the nurse checked my back again, gave me some pain killers, called the headmaster to send an escort (Aura), and sent me back to my room, telling me to rest my back so it'd heal faster.

But I really had no intention of staying in my room all night.

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><p>This story is so fun to write. Thanks for reading! Seriously. I really appreciate it.<br>I think one of the best parts in this chapter is "Yes. Except for Zero." I love Aura! XP

If you see any typos, please tell me! Or any stupid things. The last chapter that I was editing for my Assassin's Creed story, I found a something that said this... "Ezio slowed down when we reached a reclusive round courtyard. It was round." YOU DON'T SAY? So yeah, stuff like that. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE! Not trying to sound desperate, of course. -_- The next chapter should be up a lot faster than this one had been. It'll be pretty short. Until then, STAY GOLDEN PONYBOY. ;D

See that button? Click it.

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	5. Chapter 5: Looking Up

**Hey y'all! I'm really excited for this chapter, and I hope you like reading it as much as I like writing it. Tell me about typos please, I went through some of my old chapters and found DOZENS! So help me out on that!  
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><p>I changed into a pair of black skinny jeans and a purple plaid button-up shirt, then took off my thigh-high socks and pulled on my black Addidas. Even though I was out of uniform, I though it wise to grab my Disciplinary Committee arm band and slide it up my arm, just in case. Lastly, I pulled my disheveled red hair into a sloppy ponytail.<p>

When I started for my door, I realized how easy I could be caught if I went through the halls, so I turned around and opened my second-story window. There were lots of footholds for me to use, so I swung my legs out, and, as a last thought, grabbed a couple of the pain killers from the nurse and swallowed them before turning around and hanging by my hands, lowering my legs until my feet felt the top of the window frame below me. I let one hand go of my window and latched it onto a misplaced brick, sliding my feet away from the lower window, then released my window with my other hand, grabbing the lower window with it, and released the brick so I swung back in front of the lower window. I then released the window and fell less than a few inches to the floor, being extra careful to divert any impact away from my back.

I jogged off, straight away from the dorm and headed for the stables.

...

I entered the stables as silently as I could manage, and spotted White Lily immediately, her being in the closest stable to the door. I knew it was probably the stupidest thing I'd done in a long time, to try to make friends with a so-called "demon horse" when my back was already screwed up, but I didn't care. I couldn't accept that any horse was just evil. It made no sense to me.

I walked up to the gate, and the horse turned her head to glare at me. I leaned against the fence keeping her in, and focused only on her.

"Hi, Lily." I smiled at her, talking to her like she was human. "I'm Jayden."

I got another glare, and she turned so she could watch me with her right eye.

I continued. "People keep telling me you're evil and that you hate everyone, but that can't be true, can it?" I reached my hand towards her slowly, the muscles limp, palm down, so she wouldn't take it as a threat.

She eyed it suspiciously, then took a step towards me and sniffed it. Her eyes lightened up a little, and flickered to my face. I smiled and put my palm up towards her.

I don't know what it was about me that was so different from everyone else, but if she was so mean to people, she definitely took a liking to me. She pushed her nose against my hand.

Very slowly, I started to stroke between her eyes, and she let me, though she watched me carefully the whole time.

"See? I knew you weren't evil." I smiled at her.

The whole stable was so quiet and calm that I practically jumped through the roof when a voice spoke up from the open door behind me.

"I didn't expect to see you up again so soon."

I gasped and turned to see who almost caused me to pee my pants. It was Zero.

"O-oh. Well, I d-didn't feel tired... And, uh..." I stuttered futilely.

He pointed at Lily. "Was she letting you pet her just now?"

I looked back at her, and she was staring at Zero. "Uh, yeah. Sh-she was."

He chuckled, and my heart almost gave out. "Well, that's not something I ever thought I'd see." He walked over to her gate and opened it so he could get in.

Lily walked right up to him happily, a drastic change from anything I'd seen her do. "Sh-she really likes you, huh?" I tried awkwardly.

He shrugged, looking back at Lily to pet her forehead. "I guess."

I rolled my eyes. He was obviously a very hard guy to crack. "I wonder why she decided I'm okay."

He looked at me from the courners of his eyes this time. "Why'd you come down here, anyway?"

I blushed, though I didn't have a good reason to. "Uh, w-well, everyone was saying Lily was a 'demon horse,' and I've lived around horses my whole life... so... I don't know. I guess I thought I could prove them wrong?" I realized how stupid of a reason it was, so I tried again. "And when I first saw her, she really stuck out, so I wanted to meet her."

He didn't reply, so I tried talking again. "I-if you don't mind me asking, why'd you come here?"

He looked back at me, probably wondering why I was trying so hard to talk to him. "I come down here if I just want to think. It's better than sitting in an ugly room."

I laughed shakily, and started to get annoyed with myself. Why couldn't I just calm down? "That makes sense." I stood there in silence for a second, and when I looked at Lily, she was looking at me.

Zero noticed. "She _does_ seem to like you." He murmured as I reached back over the fence to stroke her neck. "I wonder why that is..." He examined my face, and I tried my best not to blush _again_, but it didn't work very well.

I shrugged. "Maybe it's some kind of psychic thing." I looked at Zero, and his expression told me he thought I was a moron. I blushed deeper. "I mean, uh, maybe psychic was the wrong word, um... I mean more... instinct."

Zero nodded, and I almost sighed, glad I'd redeemed myself on that one.

I couldn't help myself, and tried to examine his expression without him noticing. He was acting different than people made him out to be. They made him seem angry, rude, mean, bitter, and boring. One thing they were right about was how vague he could be. I couldn't help being completely intrigued by him. I just wanted to sit here and talk with him.

He looked at me then, and our eyes locked. I didn't look away though, I couldn't, I didn't want to. I just watched the way his eyes flickered with different emotions and thoughts that were flying through his head. There was something there that I didn't understand. It seemed like a lingering memory, something that wouldn't leave him alone. Something I wanted to fix.

After a few second, his eyes widened an almost unnoticeable amount, confused. "What?"

I wondered if I had creeped him out a little. "Hm, nothing. " I decided to be brave. "I like watching your eyes. There's so much to them."

He kept his eyes locked on mine for a few more moments, then looked away, with a confused expression on his face.

I pushed away from the fence and sighed. "Well if you come here to think, I'm probably bugging you. I'll leave you to you're thoughts." I smiled at him. He looked back at me as I left, and I felt his eyes follow me until I was out of his line of sight.

...

I flopped down on my bed and winced when it hurt my back, but I was still smiling like an idiot.

Not only had I talked to Zero, but I'd been brave enough to say something that broke down a wall. What wall that was, I didn't know. What I did know was that by me doing that, he would think about me.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to not start giggling. Eventually I calmed down a little more, I managed to get up and change into my pajamas before actually trying to go to sleep.

I felt like things were really starting to look up.

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><p><strong>Woot! Sorry, it was a little short, but this was a really important chapter, I think. The whole Lily liking Jayden thing isn't just trivial. It'll probably come up again later. Hopefully though, I made it obvious enough why Lily was nice. But if you didn't get it, my bad. It should come up again. Review, please. I need some reviews. Maybe some ideas? My closest friends don't even read my stories anymore, so my online readers (as few and far between as they may be...) are all I have to keep me going. SO PLEASE, tell me if you enjoyed it, or hated it, or think there's just a few things here and there that could use some fixing. <strong>

**THANKS FOR READIN'! :D 3 y'all!**


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